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work /
Anton’s hand is made of Guilt. No muscle or Bone. He has a Gung-ho finger and a Grief-stricken Thumb, 2023
This work-in-progress project, which has been in gestation since 2019 is based on a poignant and very personal story and experience: the death and disappearance of my close friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, during the 2011 Libyan war. Developed in Libya and neighbouring countries, this project responds to Anton Hammerl’s disappearance/death through a speculative examination of the circumstances surrounding his demise as well as a reflection on the decisive but paradoxical role that photography has played in conflict zones.
Drawing on the writings by Georges Didi-Huberman (Images in Spite of All) and Georges Perec (La Disparition), the project seeks to develop new representational techniques to interrogate conflict and enable innovative approaches to respond to war, photographic ethics, bereavement, trauma and missing persons.
Both Didi-Huberman and Perec’s writings are rooted in and confront the most disturbing historical realities: the disappearance/loss of a parent or a people during the Holocaust. Whilst each author addresses the notion of ‘unimaginable’ horror and loss in distinct ways, how we remember and imagine—how we use images and words and imbue them with the trace of lost lives is of paramount importance for both authors.
In my work reality and imagined reality collide overlap and blur. Through a meta-representational approach that looks beyond the referent – which I term ‘impossible document’ – the project seeks to develop a visual lexicon that can be used as a representational and pedagogic tool to interrogate conflict as well as the spectacle of photojournalism.
Like Perec and Didi-Huberman’s writings, this story too is warped by absences. It talks of the difficulty of documenting, testifying, witnessing, remembering, honouring and imagining in times of war and conflict.This project was developed with support from the Foundation for Sciences and Technology (Portugal) and the Archive of Modern Conflict.
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Rebel in Salt Lak
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Site of the battle of Sabhã
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Combat technique
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Combat technique
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Downtime in abandoned regime compound
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Militiaman (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Torture game (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Militia hideout
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Rebel
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Found photograph on popular migrant route
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Found photograph on popular migrant route
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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This tree survived the massacre of Zliten
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Installation view of This tree survived the massacre of Zliten
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Militia hideout
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Bombed rebel outpost
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Combat technique
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Decapitation on Salt Lake
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Outskirts of Al-Khums
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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This tree survived the 1st battle of Tripoli
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Freedom fighter
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Mosque in the desert
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Desert storm in Brega
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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News stand poster
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Found photograph on popular migrant route
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Rebel
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Rebel
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Installation view of Rebels
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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This weed survived the First Battle of Zawiya
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Abandoned regime compound
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Freedom fighter in training
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Rebel training site
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Rebel training site
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Freedom fighter in training
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War torn compound
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Abandoned regime compound with minaret in the background
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Site of the battle of Sirte
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Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Installation view of Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Installation view of Pro-regime fighter
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News stand poster
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Found photograph on popular migrant route
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Kidnap (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Ransacked regime compound
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This bush survived the Second Battle of Brega
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Rebel in hiding
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The desert around Bani Waled, the site of NATO air strikes
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This weed survived the Battle of Ajdabyia
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Combat technique
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Decapitation on Salt Lake
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Installation view of Decapitation
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This tree survived the Battle of Bin Jawad
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Fighter demonstrating dodging enemy fire, by tree that survived the Battle of Misrata
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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View Installation nr. 5 of exhibition